The appropriate evaluation of the anecdote

March 14, 2018 12:07 PM

Anecdotes about any particular diet’s efficacy are often trumpeted by highly motivated individuals in which the diet may align with their personal ideologies. But when thinking about health and nutrition in a scientific way, how should we internalize them?

Colby Vorland from the American Society for Nutrition discusses how we should view diet anecdotes.
posted by daybeforetheday (2 comments total)

What do we do with something much more acute, like someone feeling better after they take out an additive from their diet? It is not likely that they meticulously self-tracked their reactions before and after doing so. Nocebo and placebo effects could be playing a role. It is much more likely that these anecdotes are unreliable than they are reflecting some scientific unknown that has yet to be discovered. Yet, if they feel better and it isn’t harming their health does it matter?

only if it makes shitheads shilling cultural pseudoscience a ton of money and legitimacy. raw water and anti-vaxxers didn't emerge fully formed on their own and neither did the supplement industry's lack of federal oversight

I mean, I don't think it's tasteful in individual contexts to call bullshit on someone for going on a debunked diet unless there's strong evidence of health risks like rhabdo in Crossfit/OrangeTheory/etc gym cultures that normalize high-intensity workouts and going beyond your body's limits. but I think you do always offer resistance to people who aren't skeptical of the blogs and random anecdotes they hear that they then materialize into a lifestyle change. a simple addendum of 'yeah just make sure you check with your doctor first' isn't a social faux pas, at least not with the people I know
posted by runt at 1:56 PM on March 14, 2018 [3 favorites]

"...internalize them"

With skepticism, I'd suggest. Not sure if that comes in tablet form or is better absorbed from natural sources. Not to be confused with bile.
posted by allium cepa at 11:49 PM on March 14, 2018